Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The sister of presidential assailant John Hinckley Jr. testified Tuesday that she has seen no sign that her brother represents a danger to himself or others .

Diane Sims , who said she loves her brother , said she supports a proposal that would expand his visits to their mother 's home in Williamsburg , Virginia , and might eventually allow him to live there as a full-time outpatient .

But she said she does not think it would be a good option for him to move to the Dallas area , where she lives .

`` President Bush lives not 10 minutes from me and I think it would be a concern , '' said Sims , apparently referring to concerns the Secret Service might have . Former President George W. Bush and his wife , Laura , moved to Dallas after they left the White House .

Sims said she has no worries that Hinckley would be a risk to others in Dallas . U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman asked if it is accurate she is worried about her brother 's personal safety in Dallas , since that is the city where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 .

`` That 's a concern to me , '' Sims said quietly . She also said she thinks a move to Dallas would place Hinckley too far away from the medical experts who have cared for him for many years .

Hinckley 's sister testified on the fourth day of a multiple-day hearing to discuss his future . Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 shootings of President Ronald Reagan , press secretary James Brady , Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy , and police officer Thomas Delahanty . All of those men survived , though Brady was shot in the head and left permanently disabled .

Hinckley was staying at the home of his sister and her husband in Dallas on October 13 , 1980 , when , according to testimony in his 1982 trial , he went to a pawn shop to buy two .22 - caliber revolvers , one of which he used to shoot Reagan and the others five months later .

Only days before the purchase , three guns had been confiscated from Hinckley 's luggage while he was trying to board a plane in Nashville . Hinckley posted bond , was released and flew to New York City , then spent the night in New Haven , Connecticut , where actress Jodie Foster was a college freshman student .

He flew to Dallas to stay that weekend at his sister 's home while she and her husband were away at a football game . On that Monday , Hinckley told her he was going out to look for a job , but , unknown to her , he bought the guns instead .

The gun purchase was not mentioned in court Tuesday , and the government has not said it would be more dangerous for Hinckley to live in Dallas than anywhere else .

Since his conviction , Hinckley has been living in St. Elizabeths , a government mental hospital in Washington .

But in recent years he 's been allowed to visit his mother 's home with increasing frequency . Currently , he spends 10 days a month in Williamsburg . Under the proposal made by St. Elizabeths he would be granted two visits of 17 days each followed by six visits of 24 days .

The hospital 's recommendation for Hinckley 's eventual release on convalescent leave asks the judge to allow Hinckley to live full time in Williamsburg `` at the discretion of the hospital '' once the eight longer visits have been completed successfully .

The report was filed with the court under seal on July 29 and was not made public until Tuesday .

The doctors signing the report said such leave would be permitted only upon an assessment , at the end of the new visits , that `` Mr. Hinckley is experiencing a good mental status and that he does not present as -LSB- sic -RSB- a danger to himself or others . ''

If so , the recommendation said , Hinckley would be `` conditionally released to reside permanently on convalescent leave . ''

He would be required to meet at least once a month with a psychiatrist who is already counseling him in Williamsburg and to continue his weekly visits to a therapist there . He would also be expected to continue his volunteer activities at Eastern State Hospital .

However , the filing said , should Hinckley violate the terms of his convalescent leave , `` the hospital will return him to total inpatient care with due notification of the court . ''

If the judge were to grant convalescent leave at the hospital 's discretion at the end of the eight longer visits now requested , it would be unlikely to happen until at least the fall of 2012 , since as the filing requires a minimum two-week interval between each of the new visits .

Hinckley would be expected at the outset to live with his widowed mother , who is turning 86 this week and is in good health .

However , the hospital said should his `` mother not be available '' after Hinckley 's release , his brother and sister had expressed interest `` in the housing options of independent apartments as well as Assisted Living Facilities ... in the Williamsburg area . ''

Sims often spends time in Williamsburg when Hinckley is there and drives him back to St. Elizabeths .

She was asked many questions about how the 56-year-old fits into the Virginia community . She said he feels comfortable there and has indicated he wants to stay there even when his elderly mother is no longer there .

According to Sims , Hinckley likes working part time in the library of Eastern State Hospital and is comfortable with the psychiatrist and case manager/therapist he sees while in Williamsburg .

Under questioning , Sims acknowledged the family does not permit a woman identified in court only as CB to visit the Hinckley home . Hinckley at one time told some of his caregivers at St. Elizabeths that he was engaged to CB , who had been a patient there . Hinckley later ended the engagement , doctors have said .

Prosecutors described CB as being psychologically unstable and asked if it was accurate Hinckley 's mother does not allow her to visit for fear she would have a mental breakdown at the home . Sims said that is the case .

Sims said her brother never told the family he was engaged and -- quite to the contrary -- has said he 's not engaged and has no plans to marry the woman . She said she is aware her brother still sees CB sometimes when the woman visits St. Elizabeths .

Previously the court heard testimony that Sims had taken her brother to a singles group meeting in Williamsburg a number of years ago , and he was asked to leave .

Sims said she wanted to set the record straight about what happened . She and her brother believed members of the group knew they were coming , but that was not the case , she said . The group was surprised to see Hinckley there , she said . But she said all the members were in their mid-70s and her brother would not have fit in .

Sims said that when her brother goes out in the community he usually has no problems with people who recognize him . `` He 's not bothered by people , he 's not pointed out , '' she told the court . She said , `` He does n't bother anybody '' either .

She said Hinckley and his family members find they are able to go to certain restaurants where people know who they are but are welcoming . `` In general , the people in town have been very tolerant , '' she said .

Last week , prosecutors said Hinckley had not told the truth about deviating from his approved itinerary to go to a movie while on his few hours of permitted unaccompanied time . According to a report by Secret Service agents who were watching Hinckley without his knowledge , on one outing last July , Hinckley did not attend a movie and instead went to a bookstore where he passed by an aisle of books that included an account of the day Reagan was shot .

The judge noted the report did not indicate that Hinckley read that book or any similar books .

`` The subject was not observed picking up and looking at specific books , '' the report says . `` One item of note is the subject stopped for a time and looked at the shelves in the American History area that contain several books about President Reagan and his attempted assassination . ''

Hinckley 's sister said she had accompanied him to bookstores and never saw him look at any books like that . She said he gravitated to books on music and art . But in response to questioning by a prosecutor , she said she was n't aware Hinckley had failed to go to the movies as planned on two occasions , in July and in September .

Sims was asked if she ever noticed Secret Service agents keeping an eye on Hinckley . She replied the only time she has noticed surveillance is when she drives Hinckley out of her mother 's gated community and back to St. Elizabeths . She said agents are always waiting in a vehicle and follow along .

But at the end of a March 2011 visit , the Secret Service was not waiting , she said . According to Sims , about midway through the trip to Washington , Hinckley 's brother , Scott , got a call on his cell phone from an agent who said he had been late . Sims said the agent asked the Hinckley family 's location and requested that they wait for him to catch up .

Sims replied the family did and was happy to cooperate with the Secret Service .

CNN 's James Polk contributed to this report .

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NEW : Hospital staff makes release recommendations

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John Hinckley 's sister says she supports letting him eventually live in Williamsburg

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She says he feels comfortable there and is accepted by many community members

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Hinckley has been hospitalized since he shot President Reagan in 1981